Niger Delta stakeholders have frowned on the exclusion of their companies from the ownership of oil blocks by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). In their letter to President Bola Tinubu through their lawyer Blessing Agbomhere, the group warned of the possibility of renewed militancy in the region if the “unlawful” exclusion of their companies from the 2022/23 mini bid round and licensing of oil blocks by the NUPRC was not revisited.
Undiandeye Akonfe, James Okeati, Victor Okiri, Fortune Nakoro, Kenneth Anyanwu, Okwara Idika, Akpan Edem, Otetubi Tolulope, and Olali Solomon appealed to Tinubu to, among other things, set up a committee to analyse the mini bid round and licensing as carried out by the NUPRC, insisting that the process lacked transparency and disenfranchised them, despite having fulfilled all the requirements for participation. They also demanded a probe of the financial flows linked to data sales and the criteria used for disqualifications.
Their lawyer said: “It is our clients’ instructions that upon the invitation for interested investors to bid for these blocs, several investors bid including companies with the technical and financial capability whose majority shareholders are indigenes of Niger Delta and/or whose head offices are situated therein.
“It is also our clients’ instructions that despite Niger Delta stakeholders being key contributors to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, Niger Delta Indigenous investors were unjustly and systematically excluded from the licensing process despite their substantial investments, environmental sacrifices, and statutory rights under the Petroleum Industry Act and the Nigerian Content Development and Management Act.
“Companies were coerced into purchasing data worth millions of dollars from select offshore vendors (PGS and TSG) without alternatives.
“This requirement imposed severe financial burdens on participants, creating a barrier for smaller local companies, particularly those in Niger Delta.
“After bidders submitted applications and met stringent conditions, including expensive data purchases, NUPRC unilaterally altered the terms without prior notice or concessions to participants.
Assets initially allocated were unjustly withdrawn and returned to the bidding ‘basket’, rendering previous investments null and void.
“Revised terms facilitated access to cheaper data and other advantages for certain preferred parties, unfairly disadvantageing original bidders who complied with stricter requirements.
